We asked young film makers Sebastian Pacher, Oleg Tolstoy and Peter Bennett to come up with a film to go with the new recording Big Surprise and gave them a completely free hand in what they shot. Both Mick and I love the resulting video as it so perfectly captures the diversity of people’s lives – the hope, joy and reality of every day existence and that feeling that you just never know what tomorrow may bring. There is a real substance to the work filmed here and every face tells a story. I’ve watched the film dozens of times and am always touched by the people who agreed to be involved in it and I’d like to thank them for sharing a moment with us. Life really is a big surprise.

I love this song and I believe it is a magical vocal of such empathy from Mr Jones, one of his best ever recorded.

23 comments on “Big Surprise”

If Jack Rosenthal had written a song in 2013 it would have sounded like this. A proper slice of London with a personal and philosophical view of the citizenry. Less pompous than Danny Boyle’s 2012 opening ceremony, but with much of that sentiment.

Great video for a great song. Pleased to see the lovely Sadiq from Brixton Market at 2.46 giving us a wave. If anyone wants to hear him tell us a bit about his tiny fruit shop,he appears in my film Niche in the Markethttp://bit.ly/WZSBlB